Outdoorsmen looking for winter activities will find them at Ohio's state parks in January and February.

Among them are the Punderson Dog Sled Classic, which will be staged Jan. 10 and 11 at Punderson State Park. Visitors can park in the beach parking lots. For more information, call Mary Groth at 330-659-7330.

Another popular event is the 10th annual Winter Hike at Mohican State Park. People are invited to participate in this hike at 10 a.m. Jan. 11. The hike begins at the commissary, which is located at the park's Class A campground just outside Loudonville on Ohio 3.

Then there's the popular 50th anniversary Winter Hike at Hocking Hills State Park. This self-guided hike will take place Jan. 17, with continuous starts from 9 to 11 a.m.

This rugged hike offers a 3-mile or 6-mile trek, which allows participants to see noteworthy sights from Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls and Ash Cave. Shuttle buses will return hikers to Old Man's Cave.

Don't forget the annual Buckeye Trail Winter Hike at Findlay State Park. This hike will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 7. Meet in the campground to enjoy a great hiking event with delicious bean soup.

•Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere say a vaccination they developed to fight a brain-based wasting syndrome among deer and other animals holds promise on two additional fronts: Protecting livestock from contracting the disease, and preventing similar brain infections on humans.

The study documents a scientific milestone, the first successful vaccination of deer against chronic wasting disease, a fatal brain disorder caused by unusual infectious proteins known as prions.

•Steelhead are in Lake Erie tributaries and more pods of fish are arriving almost daily. They're hitting spoons, spinners, small crankbaits, spawn sacs and jigs tipped with maggots.

Top places to catch them are in the Vermilion River, from the river mouth up through Mill Hollow Metropark and Birmingham. Another is in the Rocky River, from the river mouth through Emerald Necklace marina and up through the Cedar Point Pools.

One also can try the Chagrin River, from the soccer fields up through South Chagrin Reservation Park. In the Grand River, fish from the Fairport Harbor short pier up to Harpersfield Dam.

They also are in Arcola Creek, where anglers work from the beach — at or near the mouth — and in the estuary pond and creek and in Conneaut Creek try water from the harbor up to the state line.

•Hunting isn't just a man's sport now. Women have joined to the point where 11 percent of all participants are female. According to Lee Dolan, Cabela's brand marketing outfitter, the company does not expect that to slow down anytime soon.

"I don't think that there has necessarily been a new level of interest from women in the outdoor market, I just think it is beginning to be served," Dolan said. "In the past, we just assumed women would wear items made for men, and what we are finding out in that their interest has been increasing dramatically by having products that are tailor-made specifically for them."

•Is it important for waterfowlers to know their ducks? It was for two hunters at Resthaven Wildlife Area. State Wildlife Officers Kevin Good and Anthony Lemle saw two men rowing a boat back to the shore, contacted them, and one stated they had shot two wood ducks.

Good checked the birds in question and saw the two birds killed were not wood ducks, but pied-billed grebes. Oops!

The man who shot the birds was issued a summons for taking a nongame bird.

Dick Martin is a retired Shelby biology teacher who has written an outdoor column for more than 25 years. He can be reached at richmart@neo.rr.com.